The house was very quiet the next day. The underlying cause of the fight had not yet been taken care of as it wasn't possible considering the distance, but at least everyone was back on more or less civil terms.

Jasper and Alice stayed in their room, just like Carlisle had told them to.

The patriarch was more than just a little disappointed with Alice for attacking her sister in such a ferocious way and the injury she had inflicted on her. While Rose had thrown her across the room, Alice had indeed tried to bite Emmett. That was an act of protection on Rose's side.

But for Alice to then go lunging at Rose and disfiguring her in such a horrible way was nothing more than a vengeful act that would not be tolerated in this house. He had taken care of it at home while the rest of the family was out hunting, supervised by their mother in case they would be inclined to continue hurting each other. Luckily the blood had calmed all of them, and while they were still injured and angry, they had walked in silence and just ignored each other's presence.

This morning Rose was asked to come downstairs, because Esme wanted to keep an eye on her and Carlisle wanted to examine her ear once more to make sure it hadn't shifted and was still in the right position so it would be healing correctly. However, their stubborn daughter tried to evade them at all costs and refused to leave her room. Emmett stayed by her side and promised to tell if he noticed something wrong with her wound or if she was trying to sneak out.

"Are you sure, Carlisle?" Esme asked while she watched her husband. They were both standing in the living room, but soon Carlisle would leave.

"Yes, love," he nodded his head. "I don't see any other way, this is urgent."

"I understand… what am I supposed to do with our children? Rosalie is still disobeying us, she refuses to come downstairs."

"She just needs some time. Em will keep an eye on her," he reassured his wife, hoping she wouldn't worry too much.

"I have to admit it disturbs me when you are not at all disturbed about her behaviour." As a mother, their pain was her pain, and she feared she wouldn't be able to break up another fight between them and then having to watch them hurt each other again without being able to help. On top of all that, Rosalie was extremely disrespectful and didn't take her seriously at all.

He gave her a little smile. "Yelling at her won't make a difference when she's still upset and hurting. Once she calms down, she'll feel guilty about the way she talked to you, but right now she cannot recognise that she's in the wrong."

She groaned. "I hate this, Carlisle. Everyone's miserable."

"I know," he replied and let his hand run up and down her upper arm before he hugged her to himself. "I know. Not much longer, love. Everything's going to be fine."

She rested her head against his chest, enjoying his comfort while she inhaled his soothing scent, but then felt him remove one arm from around her shoulders and shake his sleeve up higher.

She looked back and saw the golden watch around his wrist.

"You're leaving now?"

"It's time."

Esme felt a sinking feeling in her stomach – she was nervous.

"It's going to be all right, Esme, don't worry. I'll do my best and be back before you know it."

She heaved a long sigh.

"Watch the kids for me, make sure they don't rip each other to shreds."

"They are very quiet at the moment." She didn't know whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.

"I'm sure they won't give you any trouble."

"Sometimes it's just the calm before the storm," she murmured and looked at the ground.

He cupped a hand under her chin and gently guided it up so she was looking him in the eyes. "Don't underestimate yourself, you can handle them."

Esme was doubtful. So far, they had always been lucky in the way that they were both around when all hell broke loose at home. Now, with Rose still on edge, she had no idea what she was going to face in Carlisle's absence. Another fight with all four of them involved would be hard to break up without any backup.

"Call me, will you?"

"Of course I will," he assured her then placed a soft kiss on her lips. "I love you."

She pouted a little. "Love you, too."

He grabbed his coat from the backrest of the couch, then fished his keys from one of the pockets and gave her one last, little smile before he turned around and left the room.

When Esme heard the front door open and then close, she hugged herself and looked uneasily at the ceiling.

Rose and Emmett were lounging on their bed while soft quiet music filled the room. Em was busy hitting the buttons on his Gameboy, in between offering it to his wife in case she wanted to play as well, but she was content just flipping through the pages of one of her fashion magazines.

The atmosphere in the house was still tense, they could clearly feel it, but they were quite content in the safety of their own room. Yesterday hadn't been easy for them, for all of them, but at least now there was quiet.

Rose was constantly fighting an internal battle. She had tried calling Maddie several times, but the girl wasn't answering. She'd skin her alive for ignoring her calls, especially when she knew that she wasn't all right. This was a whole new level of concern she was experiencing and with every tick of the clock on the wall she had to fight the urge to just leave the house and go to Alaska.

Whenever she made the slightest move of getting up, Emmett placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Would you come downstairs, please? All of you!"

Rose gave her husband a questioning look.

"Mom wants us to come downstairs," he said slowly, his voice much louder than necessary like she was hearing impaired.

"Yes, Emmett, I heard that quite clearly. I'm not deaf."

"Sorry, just thought with all that wool stuffed up your ear..."

She cupped his cheek with her hand and gave him a little smile, letting her thumb graze the wound on his split and still swollen lip. "You're too sweet, but I have two ears. I can hear just fine."

He got up from the bed with a little difficulty as two of his ribs were broken and still needed some time to heal, then walked over to the door. "Wanna go downstairs?"

"To see the two stinking liars and crazy Esme? No, thanks." She dropped back on her side and continued to go through her magazine.

"Um…," he scratched the back of his head, looking uneasy. "Maybe it's important."

"I'm not going to apologise to any of them, she can forget that."

Emmett knew Esme wouldn't make an exception. She wanted all of them down there, so they would all have to be down there. Period. "Rosie, come on."

"You go." She dismissed him with a wave of her hand.

He hesitated. "But she'll be mad." He was feeling bad for Esme. The poor woman had been consumed by sadness ever since little Eddie left, and now they were torturing her with their fighting, bickering and disrespect. He knew how much it hurt her and how she feared her family was falling apart in front of her very eyes without being able to do anything about it. But at least now they could make it a little bit easier for her and just do as she asked.

"Yeah? Well, I'm mad too, makes two of us."

"Rose..."

She shook her head. "No."

And so Emmett walked downstairs by himself, taking his time, as he still hoped his wife would change her mind and follow – but she didn't.

When he entered the dining room, Alice and Jasper were already seated at the table, looking up at him. Jasper had his arm in a sling since he had effectively broken his shoulder. There was a cast on his nose and it looked pretty bad. Ha. His brother would have deserved so much more than just these superficial wounds...

"Whazzup?" he asked cheerfully and looked expectantly up at his mother.

She blinked at him in confusion. "I asked for all of you to come downstairs. Where's Rosalie?"

"Um… she's resting. Her ear, you know."

"Is it getting worse?" her voice sounded alarmed and her eyes grew big. She was just about to dart from the room in search of her daughter, when Emmett held his hands up in a placating manner and hectically started to shake his head.

"No, no, it's still the same, but she's, um, you know… doing girl's stuff."

"Emmett," Esme said with her head tilted to the side and her arms folded across her chest.

"It takes a while, the… girl's stuff," he uttered while he kept his eyes glued to the floor.

She gave him a long look until he indeed lifted his head and looked back at her, then walked across the room, never breaking eye contact. When she reached the door, she called for her daughter, but there was no movement coming from upstairs.

"She didn't leave, did she?" she asked and looked back at her son.

"No, she didn't. She's still upstairs."

"All right."

Esme, not willing to let her stubborn daughter disobey her yet again, made her way upstairs and walked up to the girl's room. She dearly hoped that Rosalie would be more civil now. It hurt her having her daughter constantly disrespect her like that. She knew she was upset, but they all were. It just didn't give her the right to be so horrible to her, especially when she, too, was just trying to help her youngest.

She knocked on the wooden door.

"Rosalie? Come, I'd like to talk to all of you."

She knocked again when she didn't get an answer and after another short while she wrapped her knuckles against the door yet again.

No answer.

Felt like groundhog day…

She took a deep breath, then opened the door and entered.

Luckily, Rosalie was still here and hadn't left, but she was wilfully ignoring her. "Rosalie, please come downstairs."

Rose turned her head, then pretended she was surprised to see her here. "Hm?"

"I called for you," she stated, looking at her from her position by the door.

"Oh?"

"Didn't you hear me? Or Emmett?"

"Must be my ear, your daughter crippled me. I guess we now have two cripples in the family."

Esme knew exactly where the bitterness and anger was coming from, but Rose would just have to get over it and especially not let it get in the way now. "Please, Rosalie, this is important."

"I'm not going to apologise," she replied stubbornly and focused back on her magazine like it was the most intriguing thing she had ever seen.

"This is not about apologising. I want us all to sit down and talk, it's very important, and I'm sure you want to hear it."

Now that peaked Rose's interest and she shoved her magazine off the bed.

"All right," she said and pushed herself up from the bed. Before she made a move towards her mother, she straightened her clothes and made sure her hair would properly cover the big bandage on the side of her head. As soon as the pain would lessen, even just a little bit, she would rip the stupid gauze off, no matter what Carlisle would say.

She followed Esme out of the room, down the hallway and all the way down the stairs to the dining room.

Emmett sat with his back to her, and so her eyes fell immediately on her two favourite siblings. They, too, were dressed in casual attire. No need to dress up when you were trapped inside a house.

"Trouble with your hearing?" Jasper asked with a sneer, which earned him a painful kick to the shin from Emmett.

"Jasper, cut it out," Esme admonished while her blonde son gritted his teeth and was rubbing the front of his leg. "You too, Emmett. I don't want to see any fighting, or you will do all the yard work for the rest of the year."

They bend their heads and remained quiet. Nobody liked yard work.

Rosalie sat down next to her mate, opposite from Alice. The look Jasper shot her annoyed her, and so she turned on Alice. "Trouble sitting?"

"Rosalie."

Rosalie whipped her head around and narrowed her eyes at her mother, angered that she wouldn't even let her enjoy her sister's pain a little. The tear between her ear and side of her head burned like fire, while all Alice got was just a minor discomfort sitting. The punishment did not fit the crime in this case. "She mutilated me."

"Don't be such a drama queen, it'll grow back together," Jasper scoffed at the same time Esme said, "Yes, and it's in the past."

Emmett gave his brother another kick for his stupid comment, which Jasper answered with a grunt. "Knock it off, would you?"

With eyes as big as saucers Rosalie looked up at her mother, pointing at her bandaged ear. "Does this look like it's in the past?"

The situation made Alice visibly uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, Rose," she said quietly. "I shouldn't have attacked you, I don't know why I did it. Please forgive me."

"Don't apologise," Jasper told his wife and covered her folded hands on the table with his left one while he sent calming waves in her direction.

"Enough, all of you," Esme admonished, standing at the head of the table. "I wanted you here so we could talk about what happened."

"We fought, you know that," Emmett spoke up, giving her a funny look.

"I know, but this is not about the fight. I want to talk about your sister."

Rosalie took a deep breath, and Emmett placed his hand on her knee in order to calm her. Alice looked a bit uneasy, while Jasper's face hardened.

"Jasper, I think it's time for you to tell us what happened. What Tanya told me sounded very disturbing and we cannot help Maddie as long as we don't know what truly happened."

He cleared his throat. "Sure, what exactly do you want to know?"

Alice gave him a sideways glance.

"Everything."

He crossed his arms on the table. "Where do I start?"

"Maybe you could tell us why Maddie thinks your father is dangerous."

Emmett leaned back in his chair, gaping at his brother. "Dude, what?"

"That's not the word I used, but I get why she would come to that conclusion."

"Are you insane?" Rose would have expected anything but that. Carlisle wasn't dangerous, never was, never will be.

Jasper ignored his siblings and focused on Esme. "I had to, after she overheard me and Carlisle talking in his study. But I also told her that this is the safest place to be."

"You called her a burden to the family and I don't want to repeat what you told him to do," she spoke very calmly, even though talking about what happened visibly disturbed her. It pained her to know what her daughter must be feeling after she heard him say such vile things about her.

"Yes, and he still refused to take action," he replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "So I told her what she needed to know."

"But why?"

"To protect her, of course. Or to be more precise: To help her protect herself."

Rosalie felt like her head was spinning. "From Carlisle? Since when is he a threat to any of us?"

"From everyone," he clarified, then cleared his throat before he wiped a strand of hair out of his face. "I have to admit, it didn't really go as planned. All of a sudden she wanted to run away, leave the coven forever, but luckily I was able to convince her that she has no clue how to cover up her tracks and that Carlisle would find her immediately, so Alaska was a much better choice. You're welcome."

Hearing him say that got Emmett's blood boiling, or venom, whatever you would call it. His hands balled into fist under the table and he turned his head towards his mother.

"Momma, can I punch him?" he asked politely through gritted teeth.

"Emmett."

"Oh!" he exclaimed like he had just realised his mistake, then corrected, "Momma, may I punch him?"

The look he gave her was indeed hopeful, but Esme wouldn't have any of that.

"No."

"Just a little."

"Stop it, Emmett."

"I'll make it quick," he promised. Nobody messed with his little sister, and hearing Jasper being so nonchalant about it made him want to act out on his instincts and desires, which were to beat him up good.

"Emmett, enough," she told him and pointed her index finger at him. It shut him right up, and so the woman could get back to the topic at hand. "There's something else, isn't there? Alice, you look like you know something that we don't."

She looked like she was wishing for the ground to open up swallow her whole. Giving her mate and her mother nervous glances, she eventually just settled for staring at the table top and started gnawing on her bottom lip.

"Alice, no more secrets. If you know something that can help Maddie, tell us."

"It's okay, Al, tell them whatever it is," her mate reassured her with a small smile.

Her brows furrowed. "Are you sure?" This would not help him in any way, it might get him hurt. Not that she hadn't warned him about what he'd done to Maddie, but still, she didn't want anything bad to happen to him.

"Of course I am. I have nothing to hide and you shouldn't either," he replied, then gave his two siblings sitting opposite from him a gentle smile.

They looked like they wanted to rip his throat out.

"Jasper mentioned… well, she was upset and he somehow mentioned the reason for why people are being changed, and that was... not good." 'Not good' was a very nice way to put it, she noticed herself.

Jasper sat there, listening, then his eyebrows lifted. "I was surprised, I figured learning that she is absolutely defenceless was going to be the biggest shocker, but instead she completely lost it when I told her why someone would decide to turn a person."

"And why, pray tell, are people being turned, Jasper?" Rosalie asked in an incredibly dangerous low voice, already having an inkling of what he'd say next. She was fully aware of what he believed as that's how he ended up in this eternal life with so many others. But this wasn't war, she was not here to fight in some army. And while she hadn't been very supportive of the idea of putting Maddie through the transformation, she had been by her side right from the beginning to show her that everything would be all right and that she had nothing to fear.

"Strategy. Advantage. Protection."

Rosalie slammed her hands down on the table then shot up from her seat, her eyes turning pitch-black. "You told her she's cannon fodder?"

"Of course not." He remained perfectly calm, looking at her like she reminded him of a circus clown for acting out like that.

"But what? A pet? Just part of a collection? Come on, I know how you tick, you freak."

Emmett gently seized his wife by the wrist and pulled her back down onto the chair.

"Just the truth. Being turned is not romantic, doesn't involve feelings."

Alice hung her head low. Her dear husband was bringing the wrath of a family upon him. A family that was fighting for their youngest.

Esme covered her mouth with her hand while she turned away from her children.

How could he?

Her poor child now believed that she was only here for their entertainment, for their own benefit, or like they had been indifferent whether to turn her or someone else or no one at all.

"Alice had visions about her, long before we even knew she existed. Do you really want to pretend that we changed her out of selfishness? That is not true and you know it. Even if you can't see it right now because you constantly compare it to your transformation, deep down you know it. You're an empath, after all."

He lightly shook his head and looked the other way, like he felt he was talking to a brick wall.

Rosalie snorted at hearing that. "Empath my ass. You dirty bastard shattered her trust in Carlisle and Esme, possibly in all of us. This could destroy her, don't you get it?"

"You are blowing this out of proportion. Who cares about the reasons behind pulling someone into this life? She cannot fight and has no clue how to use her ability, that should worry you," he said and looked at each one of them before he continued. "She is vulnerable and defenceless and Carlisle just ignores it. All he does is being nothing but careless, risking her and our lives. I'm surprised that you don't see it... he weakens the coven by keeping her weak."

Esme shook her head. "We are not in any danger, Jasper."

"You are being careless, too," he remarked, looking at his mother.

Emmett leaned back in his chair and scoffed. "We're not at war."

"Not now, but times change and before you know it, you're right in the middle of it. Maddie knows so little about our kind, she could easily be manipulated, maybe even used against us. We cannot risk that."

"That's what upset you so?" Esme queried. "You fear she would make the wrong decision under stress and end up with others of our kind who want to harm us?"

"Yes, amongst other things."

"I cannot believe you talked about all this with her." Esme had one of her hands on her hips, while she held the other one to her forehead like she was suffering from a headache.

"Why would she listen to you? She doesn't even trust you!"

Jasper focused his attention on his brother. "She didn't at first, but now she does."

"What did you do to her? I mean, you never really seemed to care, and now you are dead set on turning her into a soldier like yourself?"

"I made her believe I was going to physically punish her. I just wanted to see how far I could go, and believe it or not, she didn't fight me one bit. She was doubting her ability so much, figuring this was her punishment, that I could have done anything to her."

"So all of this because she was being obedient?!" Rose was that close to losing it.

"She shouldn't have been, she didn't do anything wrong. She had used her gift the right way for the right reason."

Rosalie gritted her teeth – the sound was horrible. "But she didn't know that because you were treating her like a criminal!"

He just raised one eyebrow at her. "Calm down, would you?"

The waves of calm that were slowly washing over Rosalie did not have the desired effect.

"Trust me, if you ever set foot anywhere near her again, I will rip you to shreds and throw you in a fire pit. I hope you roast in hell for this, brother."

"Leave him alone, Rose! He had good intentions!" Alice defended her mate.

"You little liar better shut your hole or you'll burn, too!"

"Enough! All of you, just calm down!" Esme's voice sounded throughout the room, making everyone fall silent immediately. "And Rosalie, if I ever hear you launching death threats at your siblings again-"

"Sorry, mother," Rosalie said, then took a few breaths that helped her calm down. Esme nodded at her, because she looked like she wanted to continue the conversation, and try to do so in a more calm and respectful manner.

Rose cleared her throat then looked back at Jasper. "Let me get this straight... You chased her away from us, just because Carlisle didn't share your view on covens? Because he wants her to be a child before he would prepare her for conflicts with nomads or the like? Just try to see what your interference has done to her: You destroyed her family where she felt safe. Now all she has left is fear and confusion. You sacrificed her well-being for your pride."

"You don't get it... this is the safest environment for her to learn."

"There is no safe environment for her anymore, there's nothing left," she snapped at him, but all of a sudden her facial expression changed as realisation hit. "Wait… you manipulated her. You wanted for this to happen. So everything you just told us you told her, but probably made it sound ten times worse, if that is even possible. You made Carlisle out to be the bad guy who is keeping her unaware and in need of protection, just to keep her from getting stronger and make her dependent, like he's binding her to himself."

"As I said, safe environment."

"You're a fucking sociopath...," she gasped in disbelief and rubbed a hand over her forehead. "How in the world is that safe, huh?! Why would you do that?"

"I told Carlisle it might happen, but he didn't take me seriously."

"And all of this just to spite him?"

"He practically laughed in my face when I said that someone could manipulate her into turning against us, misusing her ability and harm her and us. But this is not some joke, she is prey in her vulnerable state and no matter what you think you can do to protect her, you can still fail. This is not just about fighting, but about playing on her insecurities. I still want her to be able to physically fight, learn how to defend herself, but to be able to control her ability and use it to protect herself and us is the most urgent matter. Carlisle ignored it for way to long, all of you. You made her believe it's a flaw, she doesn't understand that part of herself. She meant well when she used it on me, but look how easily she regretted having used it, was prepared to get punished for it. That is not healthy. I help her relieve herself from that burden, from these doubts."

"You are putting her through this misery, so that it can never happen again. So that she cannot get manipulated again," Esme concluded quietly, her facial expression thoughtful.

He nodded his head. "She can solve this little problem so easily, but she just needs to sit down for a moment and figure it out. If it were a stranger putting these doubts in her head, telling her how Carlisle kept her dumb and vulnerable, that might have destroyed her. Once this is over, she will be safe, stronger and more confident. All she needs is to learn what her ability is truly for and how to use and control it. Her bond with her family, with us, will be so much stronger, she'd never doubt you again and can put her trust issues behind herself. All she needed was a little nudge."

"This is a little nudge to you? She's falling apart this very moment, you asshole!"

Esme cleared her throat in warning, but didn't say anything to reprimand her daughter. Rosalie and Jasper talking was really getting them somewhere.

And Emmett chose this exact moment to disrupt the flow of the talk again. "Momma, may I punch him now?"

"Emmett."

"Please," he begged.

"No."

"She's a bit emotional," Jasper replied with a casual wave of his hand. "Just let her. Once she realises what to do, it won't be a problem anymore."

"And what is she supposed to do?" Rosalie's eyes narrowed.

"Don't you get it? If these doubts hurt her so much and she doesn't know whom to trust, then all she needs to do is ask for the truth." Wasn't it obvious?

"Okay, I kinda get what you were trying to do by screwing with her like that, but that was still a dick move, bro. She's just a kid."

Jasper shook his head at his brother. "It had to be like that, otherwise it wouldn't have worked. She needs to learn to trust her gift and use it."

"Jasper, my sweet boy, I understand that you believe you are helping her, but I get the feeling that you have no idea just what you have done."

"Should we call her?" Alice asked hesitantly while looking up at her mother.

"No," Jasper said. "Give her some time, she needs to figure it out on her own."

Esme threw her hands in the air like she was giving up. "I'm going to call your father now."

"What for? He's working, there's nothing he can do now," Rose grumbled, still angered that they wouldn't let her leave so she could have taken care of this mess. They were wasting so much time here.

"He's not. Your father is already halfway to Denali."

Sorry guys, long week and the talk was... difficult. Took me some time to get them to hear each other out. I'm still not sure if the chapter is just like I wanted it to be, but it'll do, I think.

Thanks for reading and leaving a review!